AI enables product lifecycle management (PLM) to take the elevator from the engineering services “basement” to the C-suite, where it can drive growth and differentiation for manufacturers. While quantified public case studies for AI in PLM remain few and far between, savvy manufacturers are implementing specific use cases to close the gap between aspirational innovation and real achievement. Technology executives should read this report to understand how to match their organization’s maturity to use cases for AI in PLM that will deliver value and how to develop the minimum viable engineering data foundation that underpins AI success in PLM.

Supply chain leaders who want to make the case for investing in supply chain management must build an ROI model. To do that, they need to estimate the benefits and determine the costs of supply chain management transformation and use this information to create a model of the business impact of transformation. Supply chain and tech leaders can use our business case tool to calculate the ROI of their supply chain management efforts over a three-year period.

Supply chain management transformation efforts bring benefits like increased customer retention and greater cross-sell opportunity, but they also require investments in technology and services. Supply chain leaders who want to accurately model the ROI of transformation must estimate the size of the required investments and expected benefits as well as when those will occur. This report shows leaders how to build an ROI model that can power a business case, including where to look for benefits, how to quantify them, and how to estimate supply chain management transformation costs.

Enterprise app governance and centers of excellence are changing. Supply chain centers of excellence help manage the digital fragmentation of volatile, multitier supply networks, reducing the decision latency that undermines supply chain resilience and sustainability. Technology leaders must transform yesterday’s back-office analytics function into an advanced center of excellence with the strategic authority to shape their enterprise’s response to disruption and enable automation at scale, balancing the cost to serve, prompt availability, and sustainability for each target combination of customer and product type.

Manufacturers’ supply chain operating models depend on their manufacturing modes, readiness to pivot to economies of scope, and progress on software-defined factories. While manufacturers have long managed multispeed supply chains, the manufacturing supply chain has shifted from cost center to critical differentiator. Technology executives should read this research to understand how to align process and application portfolios with supply chain operating models that deliver competitively differentiated customer service.

Supply chain management is changing in response to an uncertain trading environment filled with new channels, marketplaces, and processes. To manage their new web of responsibilities, tech leaders should use a RASCI matrix. Supply chain technology leaders can use the Forrester Supply Chain Management RASCI Matrix, our customizable, interactive tool, to define the roles and responsibilities that will support a competitive supply chain applications portfolio.

As companies battle to boost supply chain resilience and sustainability, supply chain management (SCM) systems support analysts have moved into the spotlight. This role requires a strong background in demand and inventory planning, supply network optimization, collaborative scheduling, and related technologies. Candidates must combine persuasive change management skills with a grasp of the statistics and probabilities that underpin apps delivering compelling customer service. This role profile provides a job description and competencies for the SCM systems support analyst.

In 2024, Forrester delved into the impact of genAI on smart manufacturing. But now agentic AI is also beginning to play a part in transforming asset-intensive industries. In May 2026, Anthropic announced the creation of a standalone enterprise AI services firm backed by Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, Goldman Sachs, and other large asset managers — all […]

Amazon’s AWS Playbook: Now Applied To Supply Chain Logistics Per ShipMatrix, in 2025, Amazon surpassed the US Postal Service, FedEx, and UPS to become the largest parcel carrier in the US by volume. Globally, it delivers an estimated 13 billion packages every year. After decades spent building one of the world’s most formidable logistics networks […]

You can use supply chain platforms to improve supply chain transparency by identifying and authenticating network partners, increase resilience by collectively anticipating changes in demand and supply, and align production and transportation continuously by synchronizing action messages. But to realize these benefits, you’ll first have to select from a diverse set of vendors that vary by size, type of offering, geography, and use case differentiation. Technology executives should use this report to understand the value they can expect from a supply chain platforms vendor, learn how vendors differ, and investigate options based on size and market focus.